Daddy Issues
by Grey Estheim
Summary: Grey Estheim never got along with his father, and his father never found the time to bond with his son. This caused deep heartache for his mother, which led him to run away to find another family to care for him. What happens when he meets a certain Hero and calls him 'Daddy? Rated M for later chapters.


**_Set before the start of the game and continuing on. This is a FFXIII fan fiction. I do not own Final Fantasy XIII or its characters. I only own the OC in this story. Let's start this thing!_**

 _Grey's POV_

I silently pack my bags for my journey away from home. My last straw was when my father told me that I was a disappointment to him. He barely had time to be home long enough to get to know me. How dare he call me a disappointment? He had no right!

Something tells me that I said that last thing out loud because my little brother, Hope, stirs in his sleep and wakes up groggily. Shoot! I didn't mean to wake him up!

"Big Bro," murmured Hope, "what are you doing?" He sees the bags that I am packing.

"Big Bro, are you leaving?!" Hope shouted a little too loudly. I shush him, out of fear of him awakening our parents. The last thing I needed was my parents' angered voices lecturing me for even thinking about running away. I had to think fast, or I would be busted. I whispered this to him.

"Hope, I'm not leaving. Mom, Dad, and I are playing a game." This seemed to work for Hope, because he just smiled and lit up his eyes.

"À game? I wanna play! How do I play?!" he exclaims. I sighed in relief as he naively asked about the nonexistent game.

"Well," I lied, "it's like hide and seek. I hide and you find me. But..."

Hope looks confused, and asks me, "But what, Big Bro?"

I explained further, "You don't try to find me. Instead, you run into me by accident." This time, Hope looks even more confused.

"What do you mean, Big Bro?"

"I mean that you wait and walk around, in order to run into me by accident." Hope nods as if he understands what I am saying. But I know that he is clueless. I take advantage of his naiveté.

"Got that, Hope?" He nods again. I smile warmly, but deep inside I feel guilty for lying to him. He doesn't deserve to have the wool pulled over his eyes like how I am doing to him. He was my little brother; he deserves to know the truth. However, I know that this is the only way to protect him. I knew that the truth would crush him.

I have to do this to protect him. To protect my little brother. Hope.

"You need to go back to sleep and wait to look for me, okay?" I have to whisper in order to keep my voice from breaking. I hide my tears from Hope, but I can feel them creeping up and falling slightly from my eyes. Hope just nods at me, oblivious to my near-breakdown.

"Okay!" Hope quickly falls into a deep slumber and I am safe to let a few years fall down my face. I hope that my parents didn't hear any of that. I slowly and quietly open the door, and look back at my room and at my little brother.

 _Goodbye Hope,_ I think to myself, _I love you._

Those are the final words that I have to the house before I left for the airship.

As I walk away from the Estheim residence, I notice my reflection in the fountain near the exit staircase. I had light bluish-silver hair, slightly fair skin, sea green eyes, heart-shaped facial structure, and slim figure. Other than my hair, I look like my mother. I could hear her now, telling me that running away wouldn't solve anything. I could even feel her stroking my hair, calling me by my nickname to calm me down.

 _My little Grey Bunny_ , she would say. _Why are you running from your home?_

I shake any thought of her and hurry to the carrier. If I think too much about her, I might not want to run. No. I made up my mind. I need to do this for me. I have lived as a disappointment for too long. I want-no, I NEED- to be happy with myself, and I won't get that from living with _him_.

As I reach the air carrier, I dug through my bag for my passport and money. I walk up to the counter and present them to the clerk. He looks at my passport, looks at me, and then back at my papers. He speaks in a suspecting tone.

"Grey Estheim?" He sounds as though I am lying about my name. Why would I lie about who I was?

"Sir," I start with a condescending tone, "why on Cocoon would I try and lie about my age?" The man was taken aback by my tone. Clearly, he has never seen a twelve-year-old with a mouth like mine. He clears his throat to regain his composure.

"I am sorry, sir. It's just that we do not often get many passengers of your, uh…" the attendant hesitates before continuing, "…stature. I'm just not used to responding to this kind of situation." Well, he knows how to butter up a boy.

"Well, maybe you could respond by directing me to the correct gate." I pause for dramatic effect. "Or would you rather have me go to your boss and complain about a certain ticket clerk who harassed a customer for his age?" At the moment I said this, the clerk wore a look of absolute horror. I knew that he would be mortified if someone were to rat him out to his boss, which would result in his unemployment.

"Nonono, let's not get my _boss_ involved in this, ki—I MEAN, SIR!" sputtered the scared man. I silently laughed at the man in front of me; I thought that this would scare him, but not this much! I give him a smug smirk.

"Now, don't worry. Just give me my ticket, direct me to my gate, and I will keep silent." The grown man before me, wearing a look of pure fear, nods at me so furiously I thought his head would come off. He gives me my ticket and instructs me to go to Gate G-45. As I gather my things, I just smile at him with amusement and say to him, "Have a nice night!" and walk with pep in my step.

Looking ahead, I see the gates and immediately look for my gate. _Let's see,_ I think to myself, _G-25, G-35… Ah! G-45!_ I see my gate and run to it before the doors can close. I walk inside of the airship and take a seat near the window, which is also near the main exit. This is it; once I leave, there is no turning back. I won't be able to see my mother and little brother anymore. I would go back if it wasn't for my poor excuse for a father. It was my father's fault for driving me away.

It is evident that my father and I never saw eye to eye. He always spent his time at work, never considering that he had a family to come home to. When he was home, he and I would argue about a lot of things. 'Why aren't you getting good grades in school?' he would say, and I would respond with a snappy comeback like, 'Well I would get good grades in school if you would make the effort to _come home_ and _help his son with his homework!_ ' After that, it would turn into a screaming match between us, which would result in either Mom or Hope to cry in fear. I didn't want that for my mother or brother anymore, so I thought that running away would save them the burden of those constant fights between me and my father.

Unable to stand the thought of my father anymore, I take out my music player and play the last song I was listening to the last time I had it on. I quickly fall asleep, missing the announcement from the pilot.

"Attention, passengers. We will be departing soon, so please fasten your seatbelts. Our next stop will be to Bohdum. We thank you for flying with us."

Thank you soooo much for reading this! In case you were lost throughout this whole entire story, Grey is moving to Bodhum in order to protect his little brother from being sad again. Grey and his father never agreed about anything, and Grey despises the decisions that his father made.

In the next chapter: When Gey arrives in Bodhum, his luck is anything but good. He will encounter thieves, gang leaders, and the harsh reality of loneliness. Will anyone save him from this pain?

Stick around for more!

Also, this is the first fanfiction I have posted in a while, so I am excited about your comments and reviews! Please be honest and truthful about what you read. Will update soon. Baii!


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